


The connected

by Whodoesntlovearchur



Category: The Secret Circle (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Comedy, Dark Fantasy, F/M, Mages, Magic, Multi, Mystery, Paranormal, Warlocks, Witches, Young Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-09 23:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15278199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whodoesntlovearchur/pseuds/Whodoesntlovearchur
Summary: A girl goes missing and Lillian Gray's life turns upside down. She is forced to befriend people who she would never hang out with, only to find out they are connected more than she had ever thought.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Danielle Campbell as Lillian Gray  
> Cody Christian as Alexander Wood  
> Cole Sprouse as Ryan Andrews  
> Pheobe Tonkin as Claire Cardin  
> Jessica Parker Kennedy as Melissa Reaney  
> Brandon Flynn as Justin Fenster  
> Ross Butler as Jason Bradley  
> Britt Robertson as Chloe Miller

 

Had I known this would be the day my life goes downhill, I would have at least overslept.

 **7:00 AM Tuesday October 24** **th**

My alarm clock goes off, and I slowly turn it off and head downstairs. I cannot ignore the pleasant smell of bacon, as soon as I enter the kitchen. I see my mom flipping the bacon, as my dad is concentrated on the TV screen.

"It has been 7 days since Chloe Miller has gone missing. If anyone has any information please contact the sheriff station immediately. She.." - is all I hear as my dad turns off the TV and turns to me as I sit down.

"Good morning, sweetheart. How did you sleep?" he asks with a small smile.

"Good." I answer. To be honest the real answer has to be terrible. I live in a small town called Aberdeen in Oregon. As you heard from our local news channel a girl went missing a week ago. Not just any girl,Chloe Miller. We live in a small town where "everyone knows everyone" , but in this case really everyone knew Chloe. Her father owns the local café where we all go to hang out, and she was a sweetheart to everyone. From helping the elderly cross the street, to campaigns to help raise money for the poor or disabled. She was invested in everything, so her disappearing has been a shock to everyone. Plus, nothing like this ever happens in our town so people are not used to it.

My mother passes me and my dad the bacon and she sits beside us.

"Are things in school any better?" my mom asks as she gives me a concerned look.

"Not really. Not only are the missing posters all around town, but also at the school, as if we didn't know her.Yesterday the principal called students in his office all the asking questions. And people who have been asked say the sheriff is there too." My mom looks at me, and I add : " And no, I haven't been there yet." Talking about this makes me lose my appetite, so I excuse myself and decide to get ready for school.

School used to be a place where I enjoyed going, in spite of the hard tests or homework I had to do, it was quite fun. I am a cheerleader for our football team, and I do enjoy it. At first I only did it because of my best friend – Kath, but I grew to like it. It brings some of us girls together and being on the cheerleading squad has its perks. One of them being a scholarship.For the last week though, it has been tiring.Nothing has been the same. Teachers are understandably tired and under pressure from the principal. Cheer practice hasn’t been good either, since Chloe was our captain. The whole school is in posters about her, and there are these yellow crime scene tapes all over her locker, which make me shiver every time I walk past them.

I am a junior this year and I have known Chloe since I was 10. It’s not like we were close or anything, but I still feel bad that she is missing. All we had in common is that we live on the same street - Founder's street. The name speaks for itself. The founder families of the town all lived on the same street. In 1865 those families might have been close, but nowadays it's way different. The only person my age that I keep in contact with, that lives on Founder's steeet, is Ryan Andrews. Ryan is extremely handsome. He is a bit taller than me with short darkish blonde hair and green eyes. He has an amazing sense of humor, he is also very crafty and intelligent, though he has quick temper, which often gets him into trouble.Ryan, tho likes to be late, a lot. So we barely walk together to school. He has a thing for first periods..

..he likes missing them.

I stroll up the stairs and open my wardrobe. I put on a long-sleeve white blouse tucked inside my blue ripped jeans with white kicks. I got my bag and went out for school.As I was walking small watery drops started landing on me. Great. I guess the weather shares the town's mood. For some time I just roll with it, but the rain starts pouring faster and faster and I am forced to start running. I soon see a tree to which I run, but miscalculate my speed and end up almost slipping in the mud.Maybe I should make a run for my house and hope I don't get too wet?

"What happened to you?"  says a husky voice.

I turn around and see Alexander Wood, in all his shine and glory, smirking towards me. From all the houses I could have stopped in front of, it had to be his. Just great.  
Now don't get me wrong, he is a real charmer. 6 feet tall, tanned, handsome, muscular, and I hate to admit it but funny from time to time. What more could one ask for? Well he can be a douche, and is known to be a ladies man.  
He is in his usual attire – black jacket, random shirt and jeans. As effortlessly ,as it may seems, he always looks good. I look at his face and see he is still smirking, maybe because I just totally checked him out.

"It's raining, what do you think happened?" I spat back, while he was still amused. He simply shook his head laughing and took out his keys. "C'mon, I'll drive you." I would usually prefer not to share his company, but hey it's raining and the guy offered me a ride, I'll take it.

It is a silent ride, until Alexander speaks up, "Do you think Chloe's disappearance has anything to do with the crazy shit she told us?"

To be honest that took me by surprise and I don’t know what to answer him. I turn to him and notice he is holding the steering wheel hard , and he has an expression I can’t quite figure out.  
 "Um, I don't know.. Ryan and I think she was just trying to prank us." I simply reply.

"Yeah, that’s what me, Jason and Justin thought. But it’s kinda weird, don’t you think? She is not one to do that kind of shit." he says and looks at me a bit too long, and then turns his attention to the road. Before Chloe went missing she had this crazy theory that me, her, Alexander, Ryan and four others were connected and that we were destined for greater things. Of course we all laughed in her face, because lets face it, it is absurd. She was probably just taking the piss.

"What about we look into what she told us?" I look at him a bit confused. Is he for real? What she told us was vague and rushed , and totally bullshit.

"Oh yeah Wood, I say you drop football and become a detective while you’re at it. " I joke as he enters the schools’ parking lot.

"You’re hilarious Gray. " he mumbles sarcastically while looking back to not hit his jeep while parking.

We get out of his jeep and run to the entrance. He opens the door for me and I almost run into it because I was not expecting such gentleman behavior from Alexander Wood.

"Thanks. " I give him a vague smile and continue down the hall.

"I really do hope you guys are right." is all I hear before his tall figure disappears into the crowd.

I walk towards my locker and meet my friend Katherine on the way there.

"Jeez, you look like a wet dog." is all she says when she sees me.

"Yep, that's me." I say and we both laugh. I have known Kath ever since middle school. She moved here with her family, and we soon grew found of each other. She is tall and slim, and has a gorgeous face with red locks surrounding it. She has brown eyes and small freckles on her nose and under her eyes, which she hates, but I think they compliment her. Her, Ryan and I have been very close ever since moved here. She is kind and sweet, and I love her to bits.

First class we have literature with Mrs. Hanson. She is a chubby, and strict woman. She can be a pain in the ass if you make her angry. And sadly that's what I did last year,so she doesn't like me much. Well, she doesn't like anyone if you ask me.

She starts blabbing about Greek Literature and is soon interrupted by two students coming in late: Melissa Reaney and Claire Cardin.

Melissa Glaser has beautifull medium dark hair, heart-shaped face, and almond-brown eyes.She is one of the most beautiful girls at the school.She can be both sweet and cruel at times. I guess it depends on her mood. She is rather short , compared to Claire Cardin. Claire has olive toned skin, hazel green eyes, and long, dark brown hair which she wears straight. She has fine cheekbones and full lips, which are pale pink. They are both on the cheerleading squad.

It was no surprise they were late, but mrs. Hanson decides to give them a hard time. "As you decide to come late, you should already know what we were talking about. Explain to the class what you know about Greek literature." Like any of us knew anything about it.

"Where should I start? With the dude who got hit in the foot with an arrow? (Archilles) Or the dude who killed his father, and then married his mother? (Oedipus Rex)" swiftly answers Melissa. She looks like a doll, but she is hella smart. Sometimes I wonder why she bothers hanging out with Claire. Claire is smart, but not school smart. If you make her solve a math problem, she will look at you like a rock , but if you come at her ,  her brain opens 100 dictionaries and starts babbling out a comeback.

"Or with the fact that we were late just 5 minutes? Chill out. " was Claire's reply as they both sat down and mrs. Hanson continued with her lesson, as if nothing happened.

I usually enjoy literature but I was not having this class. Mrs. Hanson can bore anyone in minutes, without even trying. And I was not sleeping much at home either, moments before I fall asleep a second person enters the room and mrs. Hanson turns with fury towards the person, only to see it was principal Bellowbee. He politely asks, "I'm sorry for interrupting your class, but could I have Lillian Gray come with me?" that's when I froze. A few heads turned to me, and I knew what it was about, every student is supposed to give information about Chloe Miller. She was last seen at a school party, near the lake,which almost the whole school went to.

That had woken me up ,so I quickly got up and followed him into his office where the sheriff was waiting for us. "Please, take a seat." I obliged and sat across from them.

The sheriff is in his mid 40s,a kind and always smiling man. Right now he looks tired and stressed, with bags under his eyes. He opened a notebook and asked, "Lillian Gray is it?" I nod and he writes down as he continues to ask, "When did you arrive at the bonfire party?"

"Around 6:30."

"Alone?" he asked almost immediately.

"No with Ryan Andrews and Katherine Bowy. I spent almost the whole night with them. "

"And did you see Chloe Miller?"

"Not that I remember" I say unsure and I honestly don't remember.

"You didn't or your not sure?" he asks looking a bit too long at me.

"There were a lot of people, even if I had seen her, it would have been just a glance. We didn't speak at the party." I say firmly. Like damn, why is he coming at me like that, it’s not like I would hurt a fly. Well, he is doing his job but still.

"Okay and what were you doing at 9:30?"

"9;30?" I asked and he nodded. As if I look at my watch every 5 minutes and write down what I do at the exact time. Then I remembered that there were fireworks right at 9:30 "I was watching the fireworks like everyone else, and after they were done me Kath and Ryan went to the main bonfire."

"I think that will be enough." says Mr. Bellowbee standing up. "Thank you for your assistance." I stand up and he follows me to the classroom, and asks Kath to go with him. She seems just as terrified as I was, as she takes her stuff and follows him out of the classroom. I don’t get one thing, anyone could lie and how will they know if we are telling the truth?

The class soon ended and I was walking towards my locker when Melissa and Claire pull me to the side.

"Did you tell him something?" Melissa asks a bit worried, whilst Claire seems composed.  
"I told him the truth, I didn't see Chloe at the party." I was interrupted by Claire asking, "Did they ask you what you were doing at 9:30?"

I looked at her a bit confused, "Uhm, yes why?", my reply triggered something as her expression changes and she turns to Melissa, "They asked Alex, Jason and me the same thing. Something must have happened at 9:30." she looks at Melissa, who seems puzzled. "Cmon", is all I hear as Claire and Melissa take off. Okay? Bye to you too.

I shake my head because I can deal with their weird shit and I walk towards my locker to find Ryan munching on a bagel. His blondish hair was a mess, but his green eyes were awake.

"Hey"I greet as he lifts himself from my locker.

"I just had an interesting conversation." he starts and then bites into his bagel. "My mom slipped up that they found Chloe's phone about 300 yards from the camp." he says more quietly.

"What?" I ask confused turning my head fast towards him. What was she doing wandering in the woods? The bonfire party was in the woods, but we were near the camp and the lake. Why would she just wander off? "Can’t they like use police dogs to track her scent or something? "

"I don't know, my mom didn't say anything else. I promised her I won't tell anyone anything." And of course he told me, and Kath when she joined us. We were walking towards Chemistry and quietly discussing what Chloe was doing there. I felt as if someone was staring at me, so I looked around and found Alexander surrounded by his fellow football players. They were chatting amongst one another, but he was looking at me with a confused expression, maybe we looked suspicious or weird chatting quietly trying not to be heard? I don’t know what his deal is.


	2. Chapter 2

We turn the corner and enter the Chemistry lab. The cool thing about chemistry is that we have one big room, that can fit nearly two normal classes. The desks are large and fit four students, so me, Kath and  Ryan sit together and continue discussing. The room starts filling up and I soon hear the chair next to me move. Kath and Ryan stop speaking and exchange looks between me and the person who sat next to me. That would usually be Vanessa, but now I see Alexander quietly sitting and looking forward. He had his bag on the floor, and he was sitting upright , with his chiseled jaw perking out and elbows on the desk.

"What are you doing? " I ask straight at him with a confused expression. Now let me explain a bit. This guy loves making smart remarks at me from time to time, but that’s it. He never sits next to me, or drives me to school. Today was a first. And it’s hella weird that he just decides to sit here, from all of the seats in this huge ass chemistry lab.

He turns towards me with an innocent expression, and a slight hint of smirk, "Waiting for class to start, what about you ,Lill? " Lill? Seriously? I stay silent and watch him with a combination of frustration and confusion.

"I’m trying to contain myself from killing somebody. " I finally say to him with a sarcastic smile. He laughs and then looks at Ryan and Kath, "I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation, continue, it’s like I’m not here. " he says casually and reaches to pull something out of his bag. So that’s what he was trying to do, trying to listen in on our conversation. As if we would tell him such information, he would probably go rant to the whole school. And if someone in the school was responsible for Chloe’s disappearance, they could try to hide their tracks. No way in hell am I telling him anything.

Mr. and Mrs. Washington interrupt me as I was about to tell him to piss off.  Mr. and Mrs. Washington are our Chemistry teachers. They are around their 50s and they are the cutest married couple ever. Mrs. Washington is strict, but sweet at the same time, while Mr. Washington is the funniest teacher ever. He always jokes around and makes chemistry bearable, and is one of the few teachers, who students respect.

Midway through the lesson I hear buzzing coming from Alexander’s pocket. I invert my gaze downward trying not to be spotted that I’m peeking at his phone. I am not noisy, I just couldn’t help it. An unknown caller was calling him and he rejected the call and put it back in his pocket. A few seconds later his phone starts buzzing again, again an unknown number. His body gets a bit tense, as he declines the call. I can sense he is getting frustrated. He phone buzzes again and he gets it out fast and sees a text from the unknown number, he is about to open it when I nearly jump out of my seat as Mr. Washington is in front of us.

"Well, well, well, what are you guys looking at? " he asks with a mischievous grin. I quickly turn my body towards him, as I hadn’t noticed I was turned to Alex. Alex quickly slips his phone in his pocket and turns his attention to Mr. Washington.

"Lill wanted me to show her something on my phone. I told her we can do it after class, but she insisted. " Alex says lifting his shoulders and making a "not my fault" face. I look at him and send fire bolts with my eyes. As if Mr. Washington would believe this.

"Oh, I know how women are. You let them boss you around, and next thing you know, you are married and with three kids." Mr. Washington jokes shaking his head and then turns to Mrs. Washington with a hilarious grin, " Of course not you, my love. " most of us laugh as she smiles shaking her head and continues to write down on the board.

Mr. Washington turns to us with a serious expression ,"You know the rules, no phones in class." he says as he walks back to the front and continues explaining whatever he was explaining. I don’t understand Chemistry what so ever. I turn a bit and see Alexander is just watching me with the biggest grin ever, and then he turns his head towards the board.

As soon as the class ends Kath grabs  me under the arm and we start walking towards our next class, Ryan trailing behind. When we were about to turn the corner , I see Alexander texting on his phone as he storms through the halls. Well, whoever called him must have been about something important.

And had I remembered me and Kath had French, I wouldn’t have hurried. Ryan is lucky, he chose to study Spanish. Mrs. Petunia is not a bad teacher, but she just can’t explain the grammar, so me and Kath chat through most of her classes.

"It is absurd. Why would they make a Halloween party when a girl is missing?" Kath whispers to me, shaking her head. It is kinda stupid and inappropriate. I get that there are people who weren’t close to her, but people like Nicole Peterson are

"I don’t know. But I’m not planning on going. "

Class ends and it is lunch time. Our cafeteria is huge and it is at the end of the school. It is like a glass dome, there are huge French windows all around the room, from which we can see the green outdoors, the running ground and the football field. It is extremely beautiful and cozy.

Kath and I line up to get food when I get pulled by the forearm. I turn around and Jason Bradley looks at me with a distressed face.

"We need to talk." He says quietly. Jason is your stereotypical jock. Tall, handsome and well-built. He has a round face, short dark hair, big full lips and dark brown eyes, which compliment his olive skin.

"About?" I look at him confused. He is a jock and I see him at the football games. We have chatted before, as we live on the same street, but that’s about it.

"Not here. The others are waiting for us. " he stops as Kath turns to us. "I’ll steal her for a bit. I need someone to explain me some Math problems." He says to her slightly laughing and tugging on my arm. Before she could say anything he is dragging me out of the cafeteria, and up the halls.

"What the hell? Where are we going? " I ask reasonably angry, and get no answer.

We get to the library and see that it is almost empty, even Mrs. Grant isn’t at the front. It’s lunch, normal people eat. And there’s me – being dragged into the library. The library is vintage and everything is wooden. It is two story – with a spiral staircase in the middle. He leads me up the stairs and I can’t help but ask, "You do know, I am as bad in Math as you, right? "

"We’re not studying Math. I just needed your friend not to be suspicious. " We get to the second floor and start walking through the shelves. Am I about to get jumped? What is going on here?

" Then what are we doing here? " as I ask that I see a bunch of people sat at a nearby reading spot. Alexander Wood is lain back against the window ,Ryan is there sitting on a bean bag, while Melissa, Claire and Justin Barkley are sitting on the couch. My eyes land on Justin. There was a huge cut on the side of his forehead and he had bruises on his face.

"Now that she is here, can someone explain why we were all dragged here? " Claire asks with a silvery voice.

"Justin was attacked." Jason answers with a harsh tone.

"So what? Do I look like the police? " she rolls her eyes and gets up to leave.

"Nah, but you might be next." She stops in her steps and turns towards Alex. The tension between these two is insane. They use to date, and it didn’t end well. We were at a football match outside of town, the team and the cheerleaders, and she was caught cheating. If you ask me, it was a matter of time one of them slipped up.

"And what is that suppose to mean? " she asks crossing her arms. Me and Jason are standing between two bombs. SOS.

"Let Justin explain." Jason interrupts their conversation and beckons her to sit. She thinks for a second, but obeys.

We all turn our eyes to Justin, he doesn’t look scared, he seems annoyed. He is playing with his fingers and isn’t even looking up. "Me and Tyler were bored as fuck, so we decided to go to Westfield at a party. I met this chick, she seemed fine, I didn’t know the bitch was crazy. " he looked up frustrated. " We were talking and I mentioned that we were here, cuz’ there were no parties at Aberdeen since Chloe went missing. She started asking me if I knew her, were we close, where she studied. I was drunk out of my mind. At the time I didn’t pay attention to it. She asked me to her place, so I told Tyler I would call him to pick me up afterwards. As soon as we enter the apartment, the bitch jumps at me and with a knife in my face. I tried to dodge but she cut me. And started punching me. "

"A girl knocked you out? " Claire huffs, holding her laughter.

" I was drunk, okay? " he turns to her ,but continues his story. "Between the hits, she would ask me who knew I was here, If Chloe had told us anything about some coven thing, what were the others’ names and all this crazy shit. Her phone rang and she got distracted, so I had the opportunity to hit her off me and I ran out. I must have lost my phone while I was running. I don’t even know how I found myself back to the party. "

"We need to report this to the sheriff." Melissa begins, and we all turn our attention to her. "This girl obviously knows Chloe, damn she might even know what happened to her. " She is right. We can’t keep this to ourselves.

"We can’t. " Alex interrupts her with a husky voice. " I got a text and I’m guessing it’s from her. " He puts his phone on the table and we all look at it.

 

**_Tell a word to somebody and she is a goner._ **

**_I think you have the wrong number._ **

**_I don’t think so. Send Justin my regards._ **

"How did she get your number? " I ask confused.

Alex turns to me and shrugs, " No idea. All I can think of is that the day Chloe came to us and told us that crazy shit, Justin and I discussed later through texts. I’m guessing she found his phone and read through his messages. "

"Well, good thing is they don’t know the rest of us." Claire mumbles as all of us stare at her. "Gosh , I’m joking. Am I the only one not buying this? Why would anyone kidnap her? They want her to do charities for them? C’mon! "

" Okay, let’s hypothetically say that what Chloe told us is true." Ryan lifts his hand in the air before anyone can contradict him. "Hypothetically! And they captured her. What do we do? "

"Well did she say what she wanted? " Melissa asks reaching for the phone. " We should call her. "

"No! " Jason grabs the phone from her hand. "We are talking about a person’s life on the line. We need to think about this! This chick could be crazy, if we rub her the wrong way, bye bye Chloe! "

"Don’t say that! " Melissa slaps him on the arm.

"He is right. " Alexander interrupts with his eyes stuck on one spot. " We need to think this through carefully." I haven’t seen this side to him. He seems concerned.

Before anyone can say anything the bell rings.

" Let’s meet after school. "  Justin suggests picking up his bag.

"As if I would want to be seen with you! " Claire fires back. He turns to her confused and maybe a bit offended, to be honest I would be offended too. "I meant that this psycho knows what you look like, and it’s 2018. I’m sure she has found Wood through Facebook already. " Alex shoots her with a glare. " What? I don’t think there are much Alexanders in Aberdeen. Which reminds me to untag myself in every phone of you guys. " she states as she gets her phone out. She does have a point, but that doesn’t solve the problem.

"Knowing we go to football matches together and get group photos, that will take you a lot of time. " Alex glares her a fake smile.

"She can’t know who to look for, anyways. " Melissa reassures her friend. " My mom will be late at work, swing by my place after school and we will talk it through. "

Most of us nod and we scatter down the library stairs and into the halls. Ryan nudges me on the arm, "Should we tell them what my mom told me about Chloe? "

" I honestly don’t know. I don’t think we should hide it from them ,but this is just crazy. I can’t even reprehend it. A part of me wants to run to the principal’s office and talk to the sheriff, another tells me it would be a bad idea. "

For one we don’t even know if what this girl told us is true. Chloe might not even be alive. But we need to play by her rules if there is any chance of saving Chloe.

The rest of the classes went pretty uneventful. I couldn’t think about anything else than what happened of course. Kath was suspicious of my and Ryan’s disappearance through lunch, but what was I supposed to tell her? Hey Kath, you know the girl who is missing, we might be connected to her disappearance. Yep, not a conversation starter.. I don’t want to lie to her but until we know what is going on, I am not going to trouble her.

After school finished we were supposed to have cheer practice, but both us and the football team were let go, because of the weather. It was still raining, and from time to time there were strong gushes of wind. Ryan drops me off, since he lives two houses away from me. I can’t wait to just collapse on my bed and forget today happened.

"I’ll swing by in 20 and we can go to Melissa’s together." Ryan reminds me as I close his car door. I totally forgot that we arranged to meet. A part of me hopes today and fortunately the last week, has been one big dream or a joke , I don’t know. It’s crazy to think any of this is true.


End file.
